Washbasin pop-up valve

ABSTRACT

The washbasin pop-up valve according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a head part for opening/closing a drain; and a cover for foreign-substance sticking prevention, which has a width corresponding to the drain and extends downwards from the downside of the head part.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a washbasin pop-up valve for openingand closing a drain hole of a washbasin.

BACKGROUND ART

Typically, a washbasin is a container that can hold water to wash theface, hands, etc. of a user. The washbasin may be attached to a wall orformed in a stand type structure. The washbasin is made of sanitary ware(or pottery) and is installed on the wall of a bathroom or toilet. Thewashbasin has a drain hole and a pop-up valve fitted in the drain holeto open and close the drain hole in order to drain off and/or storewater in the washbasin. The pop-up valve serves to open and close thedrain hole. The pop-up valve is coupled to an operating lever. The drainhole is opened when a head part of the pop-up valve is lifted up byoperation of the operating lever. More particularly, pressing a stemconnected to the operating lever may rotate the operating lever about ahinge axis and push up the pop-up valve, thereby lifting up the headpart and opening the drain hole. When pressing the head part toward thedrain hole, the operating lever connected to the pop-up valve returns toan original position thereof and the drain hole is closed by the headpart. However, the existing pop-up valve does not include anyalternative device to enclose the operating lever part located insidethe drain hole and thus causes clogging of the drain hole due to foreignsubstances such as hair stuck in the lever part exposed within the drainhole.

As an example, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0400063discloses a “Drain valve for washstand”.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

In order to solve the foregoing problems, an embodiment of the presentinvention provides a washbasin pop-up valve wherein an operating leverpart exposed within a drain hole is enclosed by a foreign substanceclogging prevention cover, thereby preventing foreign substances(debris) discharged through the drain hole from sticking to theoperating lever.

Technical Solution

According to an embodiment of the present invention to achieve the aboveobject, the washbasin pop-up valve may further include: a head part foropening/closing the drain hole; and a debris clogging prevention coverwhich extends downward from the bottom of the head part and has a widthcorresponding to the drain hole wherein a cover member is disposed on alower portion of the debris clogging prevention cover in order toenclose an operating lever, wherein the cover member is divided into twobranches above the operating lever while enclosing a lever portion ofthe operating lever exposed within the drain hole, and the cover memberincludes a first cover and a second cover facing the first cover,wherein there is a space present between the first cover and the secondcover, a first support is provided inside the first cover and a secondsupport is provided inside the second cover to correspond to the firstsupport, wherein the first support has a first hole surrounding half ofthe operating lever while the second support has a second holesurrounding the other half of the operating lever, which is opposed tothe first hole.

Further, a connection portion between an upper portion of the debrisclogging prevention cover and the cover member may be formed to have acurved face along which water smoothly flows down.

Further, blades close to the inner wall surface of the drain hole, whichform a ‘+’ shape together with the debris clogging prevention cover, maybe provided at opposite lateral faces of the debris clogging preventioncover.

Advantageous Effects

With regard to the washbasin pop-up valve according to the embodiment ofthe present invention, the lever portion exposed within the drain holeis enclosed by the debris clogging prevention cover, so as tofundamentally prevent the debris, which was discharged through the drainhole, from sticking to the operating lever.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view according to a preferred embodiment of the presetinvention.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating installation of a washbasin at a drainhole according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating blades according to another embodiment ofthe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   20: Head part    -   21: Bottom    -   30: Debris clogging prevention cover    -   40: Operating lever    -   50: Washbasin    -   51: Drain hole    -   60: Blade    -   70: Hinge axis    -   300: Cover member    -   310: First cover    -   311: First support    -   312: First hole    -   320: Second cover    -   321: Second support    -   322: Second hole    -   330: Curved face    -   340: Space

BEST MODE

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Firstof all, with regard to reference numerals given to components shown ineach drawing, it should be noted that even though the same componentsare shown in different drawings, these components have the samereference numerals as frequently as possible. In addition, the followingdescription will be provided to explain the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, however, the technical concepts of the presentinvention are not particularly restricted or limited thereto and,instead, can be modified and variously practiced by those skilled in theart.

First, a configuration of the washbasin pop-up valve according to anembodiment of the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the washbasin pop-up valve according to theembodiment of the present invention may include a head part 20, a debrisclogging prevention cover 30 disposed on the bottom of the head part 20,blades 30 to form a ‘+’ shape together with the debris cloggingprevention cover 30.

More particularly, the head part 20 may serve to open and close a drainhole 51 of the washbasin. The head part 20 may have a circular formcorresponding to the drain hole 51 in order to plug up the drain hole51. A typical elastic packing for closing the drain hole 51 may becoupled to a lateral face of the head part 20.

The debris clogging prevention cover 30 may be formed with a widthcorresponding to the drain hole. The debris clogging prevention cover 30may extend downward from the bottom 21 of the head part 20. The debrisclogging prevention cover 30 may act to prevent debris from sticking tothe operating lever 40. The debris clogging prevention cover 30 may beconnected to an operating lever 40.

The debris clogging prevention cover 30 may include a cover member 300provided on a lower portion thereof to enclose the operating lever 40.The cover member 300 may be divided into two branches above theoperating lever 40 while enclosing a lever portion of the operatinglever 40 exposed within the drain hole 51 of the washbasin 50.

The cover member 300 may include a first cover 310 and a second cover320 facing the first cover 310. There is a space 340 between the firstcover 310 and the second cover 320, which is required to operate theoperating lever 40. The first cover 310 and the second cover 320 mayenclose the operating lever 40 in order to prevent debris such as hairfrom sticking to the operating lever 40.

A first support 311 may be provided inside the first cover 310. Further,a second support 321 facing the first support 311 may be provided insidethe second cover 320. The first support 311 may have a first hole 312surrounding half of the operating lever 40. The first hole 312 may havea semicircular shape. Further, the second support 321 may have a secondhole 322 surrounding the other half of the operating lever 40, which isopposed to the first hole 312. The second hole 322 may also have asemicircular shape. The first hole 312 and the second hole 322 meet toform a single circle.

A connection face between an upper portion of the debris cloggingprevention cover 30 and a lower portion of the same, that is, the covermember 300, is designed as a curved face 330 along which water or debrissmoothly flows down. Blades 60 may be provided at front and rear sidesof the debris clogging prevention cover 30. The debris cloggingprevention cover 30 may be welded to the head part 20 or integrallycoupled to the head part 20.

The blades 60 may be provided at both of the front side and the rearside of the debris clogging prevention cover 30. The blades 60 may forma ‘+’ shape together with the debris clogging prevention cover 30. Theblades 60 should be designed to be close to an inner wall surface of thedrain hole 51 of the washbasin 50. The blades 60 may serve as a guide toensure smooth flow of the water through the drain hole 51 and, at thesame time, as a rib to reinforce durability of the debris cloggingprevention cover 30.

As shown in FIG. 5, a shape of the blade 60 may be altered. Moreparticularly, a lower portion of the blade 60 may be located below thedebris clogging prevention cover 30, so as to reinforce rigidity of thedebris clogging prevention cover 30.

The following description will be provided to explain operation of thewashbasin pop-up valve according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

As shown in FIG. 4, when pressing a stem connected to the operatinglever 40 while plugging up the drain hole 51 by the head part 20, theoperating lever 40 rotates about a hinge axis 70 and pushes up thepop-up valve by operation of the stem. While the pop-up valve is liftedup, the head part 20 plugging up the drain hole 51 escapes from thedrain hole 51, thereby opening the drain hole 51.

When the drain hole 51 is opened, water and debris such as hair may bedischarged through the drain hole 51. In this case, the lever portion(of the operating lever 40) exposed within the drain hole 51 issubstantially shielded by the first cover 311 and the second cover 312,therefore, the debris flowing through the drain hole 51 does not stickto the exposed portion of the operating lever 40 inside the drain hole51 but can be directly drained through the drain hole 51. Moreparticularly, the debris smoothly flows along the outer surfaces of thefirst cover 311 and the second cover 312 and is discharged through thedrain hole 51.

When pressing the head part 20 toward the drain hole 51, the operatinglever 315 may return to an original position thereof while the drainhole 51 is plugged up by the head part 20.

The following description will be provided to explain a process ofcoupling the operating lever to the debris clogging prevention cover.

The conventional operating lever 40 is coupled to the debris cloggingprevention cover by correctly fitting the operating lever 40 into ahole, and this coupling process is not easily conducted. However,according to the embodiment of the present invention, the operatinglever 40 can be easily and simply coupled to the debris cloggingprevention cover by pushing the same between the first cover 310 and thesecond cover 320.

In particular, when pushing the operating lever 315 between the firstcover 310 and the second cover 320, the first cover 310 and the secondcover 320 are naturally widened. More specifically, when pushing theoperating lever 315 between the first cover 310 and the second cover320, a narrow spacing between the first support 311 and the secondsupport 321 is widened so that the operating lever 315 can enter thesame and be disposed in the first hole 312 and the second hole 322 viathe widened spacing. As soon as the operating lever 315 is located inthe first hole 312 and the second hole 322, the first support 311 andthe second support 321 are narrowed again to complete coupling of theoperating lever 315.

As reviewed above, the washbasin pop-up valve according to theembodiments of the present invention may enclose a lever portion of theoperating lever exposed within a drain hole by a debris cloggingprevention cover, so as to fundamentally prevent debris, which isdischarged through the drain hole, from sticking to the operating lever.Further, unlike the conventional coupling mode of the operating lever bycorrectly fitting the operating lever into a hole, the operating leveraccording to the present invention can be easily and simply coupled bypushing the operating lever into a first hole and a second hole.

As such, the above description is provided only to illustrate thetechnical concept of the present invention, and those skilled in the artwill appreciate that a variety of modifications, alternations andsubstitutions may be possible within the scope of the present inventionwithout departing from essential characteristics of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the embodiments and accompanying drawings areintended to explain the technical features of the present inventionwithout particular limitation thereof, and the technical scope of thepresent invention is duly not limited by such embodiments andaccompanying drawings. The protected scope of the present invention isto be interpreted by the appended claims, and all technical ideas withinthe above protected scope and equivalents thereto should be construed aswithin the scope of the present invention.

1. A washbasin pop-up valve, comprising: a head part for opening/closinga drain hole; and a debris clogging prevention cover which extendsdownward from a bottom of the head part and has a width corresponding tothe drain hole wherein a cover member is disposed on a lower portion ofthe debris clogging prevention cover in order to enclose an operatinglever, wherein the cover member is divided into two branches above theoperating lever while enclosing a lever portion of the operating leverexposed within the drain hole, and the cover member includes a firstcover and a second cover facing the first cover, and wherein there is aspace present between the first cover and the second cover, a firstsupport is provided inside the first cover and a second support isprovided inside the second cover to correspond to the first supportwherein the first support has a first hole surrounding half of theoperating lever while the second support has a second hole surroundinganother half of the operating lever, which is opposed to the first hole.2. The washbasin pop-up valve according to claim 1, wherein a connectionportion between an upper portion of the debris clogging prevention coverand the cover member is formed to have a curved face along which watersmoothly flows down.
 3. The washbasin pop-up valve according to claim 1,wherein blades close to an inner wall face of the drain hole areprovided at opposite lateral faces of the debris clogging preventioncover, which form a “+” shape together with the debris cloggingprevention cover.